1.10 Simon Kitchen, CEO of Bipolar UK, Suicide Prevention and how Suicide affects the Bipolar Community

This is a Bonus episode that is being released on World suicide Prevention Day 2021. Simon Kitchen is the CEO of Bipolar UK and in this episode we get to know a bit about him and how he came to work with Bipolar UK. We talk about the Bipolar Commission research that is being carried out and also what we know so far about the impact of increased risk of suicide for those living with Bipolar. On the same day that this podcast is released Bipolar Uk will be hosting a free webinar for Suicide Prevention Day to raise the profile of the number of suicides linked to bipolar, and proactive steps that need to be taken to reduce them. What bipolar is and the link with suicide. Simon Kitchen – CEO, Bipolar UK What does the data tell us? Dr Clare Dolman, co-Chair Bipolar Commission What is currently being done in public policy to reduce bipolar suicides? (focus on England). Simon Kitchen – CEO, Bipolar UK What can we ALL do to reduce the risk of suicide for people living with bipolar? Dr Thomas Richardson – role of talking therapies in reducing suicides for people with bipolar Emma Belle and April Kelley, Bipolar UK Ambassadors with lived experience Key facts 1 in 20 people who take their own life in the UK have a diagnosis of bipolar Someone with bipolar has a suicide risk that’s at least 20 times greater than someone without bipolar, which is higher than someone with major depressive disorder Yet these statistics don’t reveal the whole picture. “It’s very likely these figures are hugely underestimated because of the large numbers of people with bipolar who are undiagnosed or misdiagnosed,” says Professor Guy Goodwin, Emeritus Professor of Psychiatry, University of Oxford. The real figure is more likely to equate to two people with bipolar taking their own life every day. Resources Bipolar UK’s suicide prevention bank of content can be found here: https://www.bipolaruk.org/blogs/suicide-prevention April Kelley’s personal account of how she copes with the really difficult days: https://www.bipolaruk.org/blog/in-the-mist-of-time2 Jeremy Clark shares how he has learnt to manage suicidal thinking: https://www.bipolaruk.org/blog/managesuicidalthinking Emma Belle chats with founder of suicide prevention charity Grassroots, Chris Brown, on her podcast: https://www.bipolaruk.org/blog/how-do-we-speak-to-someone-who-is-suicidal Nicky Chinn reflects on how ‘talking about it’ helps him deal with suicidal thinking: https://www.bipolaruk.org/blog/a-life-was-saved Ellie remembers her father who took his own life when she was at school: https://www.bipolaruk.org/blog/coping-with-loss